


The Long Walk Home

by armchairaloof



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Hiking, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tent Sex, but it's fun, taking liberties with geography, the gang goes backpacking to heal old wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:15:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25436008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armchairaloof/pseuds/armchairaloof
Summary: One shot. Rex and Cody embark on a backpacking trip through Montana on the CDT to breathe the fresh air and be humbled by all that nature has to offer. And process some trauma. Rex learns the hard way that trail friends are true friends.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 12
Kudos: 131





	The Long Walk Home

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Rex shows symptoms of PTSD/anxiety. Implied past thoughts of suicide, alcohol abuse.

It started like any encounter on the trail did, a quick “Hey how’s it going?” with no real intent to hear the answer to that question. Rex had lost count of how many hikers they’d met after the second or third day, and he’d stopped looking them in the eyes even sooner than that. Cody called him rude, something about trail etiquette. Rex just rolled his eyes.

As the old cliché went, he wasn’t here to make friends.

They’d started their hike on the Continental Divide Trail on a particularly busy section in northern Montana. They weren’t going the full distance of course, just a few weeks of backcountry hiking and camping to escape civilization. But now they were far enough away from the parking lots and loop trailheads that the crowds had thinned significantly. Rex was finally starting to feel like he could breathe out here.

Bright laughter reached them around a curve in the trail before Rex and Cody could see the owners of the voices. Cody spared him a glance as they trekked closer.

“Be nice,” he said to Rex. “You never know when a having a friend or two out here could mean the difference between life and death.”

In hindsight, Rex would call those words prophetic. At the time however, he just scoffed and shouldered his pack a little higher on his back. It’s not like he tried to be rude to strangers, he just would rather roll down this shrub and sharp rock covered hill than hold a conversation with them. Hence the being out in the middle of the wilderness thing they were doing. Wilderness equals no people. Or at least it should, in Rex’s book.

They rounded a natural corner of sheer cliff face and saw that the path leveled out for a ways—thank god, they must have ascended over a thousand feet in the last hour alone—and widened, leaving room for the small group of hikers they’d heard to sit off to the side of the main walkway. Rex forced himself to not react at the sight of them. He slowed his breathing like he’d been taught, counting his inhales and exhales.

Cody, well used to this after a solid week of hiking together now, positioned himself so that he was blocking Rex from the group slightly. Cody always took point when they came across anyone.

“Mornin’,” Cody called out once he was in front and could see the others. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hey how’s it going,” Rex said at the same time by rote in the general direction of the other hikers. The words had long ago lost their meaning to him and came out as more of a statement than a question.

Rex frowned at his brother’s back as Cody’s words sunk in. Did he know this group of hikers? He snuck a glance around Cody’s shoulder. Three people, two men and one woman, were sitting on rocks loosely facing each other in a semi-circle. Their packs were as large as his and Cody’s so they were definitely multi-day hikers. Rex didn’t recognize them, but then again, he’d been actively trying _not_ to remember anyone’s face lately.

“We’d wondered when we’d see you guys again!” one of the men yelled back jovially. “We thought we might’ve lost you on that incline.”

Cody laughed good-naturedly. “I’m afraid it’ll take a little more than that to stop my brother and I from beating you three to the next camp.”

“Aha! I told you they were brothers!” Rex peered cautiously around Cody to see the woman grinning triumphantly at her companions. If Rex hadn’t been putting so much energy into controlling his breathing, he probably would have done something embarrassing like gasp. Even so, Cody side-eyed him curiously so maybe he had changed his breathing slightly after all.

She was attractive, almost startlingly pretty in that way that can’t be faked. Dark twin braids trailed halfway down her back. Rex was thankful she was sitting so that she was only partially facing him. He didn’t think he could handle her full attention on him.

“Okay, okay,” the taller of her two companions was saying to her. “You win. The hair threw me off.”

Rex brushed a hand over his blond hair, longer than he could ever remember it being.

“I apologize for them,” the other man with them said to Cody and Rex. He had a reddish beard that seemed too well-maintained to just be a trail beard. “We haven’t talked to anyone outside our group for quite a while now and they seem to have lost their polite conversation skills.”

Rex and Cody had neared the group by then and stood a little distance away, still on the path. Despite Rex’s momentary attraction to the female in the group, or perhaps because of it, he was ready to keep moving. Cody apparently had other ideas.

“I know the feeling,” he was saying to them. “We’ve been going for about a week now and I can count on one hand how many people other than Rex that I’ve talked to.”

Rex startled. Cody at least had the decency to look apologetic at giving his name to strangers.

“A week? Are you guys through hiking?” the taller one asked them.

“That’s the plan,” Cody replied. “Well, at least through the park.”

“Sweet, us too.” Rex glanced at the woman as she spoke. “We’ve been going almost two weeks, but lost some time when _someone_ took us on a little detour.”

“Hey! That waterfall was cool and you know it.”

“Yeah, yeah, Skyguy. Just keep your nose out of the guidebook from now on,” the woman said back.

Rex fidgeted and hooked his thumbs through the loops on his backpack straps. The easy conversation between these hikers was jarring to witness. He felt the whisper of comfort in their camaraderie, even from his perspective on the outside, which unnerved more than it settled him. He’d had camaraderie like this before. And lost it.

“Well, good to see you again.” Cody said somewhat regretfully.

“Yeah, you too, fellas!” The taller man waved cheerfully. “See you around!”

Rex and Cody continued on, putting distance between themselves and the other group.

Rex was uncomfortably aware that that’d been the longest interaction he’d had in months with someone who wasn’t his brother.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here?”

Rex was man enough to admit that he jumped at the sudden voice behind him. He twirled, only just stopping himself from reaching for a sidearm that wasn’t holstered on his thigh.

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the bearded man from the group they’d met the other day said quickly, probably noticing the wild look in Rex’s eyes.

“No worries, man.” Cody laid a reassuring hand on Rex’s shoulder as he stepped around him. “You guys made good time, hey?”

“Not as good as you two, it seems. I’m Obi-Wan, by the way. We keep meeting like this, so it only feels appropriate to know each other’s names.” He stretched his hand out to them. Cody took it with his own and shook.

“Cody,” he said. He looked to gauge Rex’s mood. “And this is my little brother, Rex.”

“Pleasure to meet you both.” He gestured to the man and woman who neared their position on the trail. “And this is _my_ little brother Anakin, and our sister Ahsoka.”

“Did you guys see that bear a ways back?” the woman, Ahsoka he supposed, said excitedly.

“A bear?” Cody looked a little pale at the possibility they could’ve passed right by it without knowing.

“Yeah, dude. It was way off in the distance, probably still a mile or more away.” Anakin grinned like a kid on Christmas morning. Cody did not seem comforted. “It was pretty cool. Ahsoka got some good shots, if you wanna see.”

She held out an expensive looking camera, but Cody backed away.

“Um, no thanks.”

Despite living in Wyoming his whole life and working in the mountains most of his adult life for the Forest Service, Cody was still a little green about the gills when it came to bears. Rex found this hilarious.

Rex took a glimpse at the viewscreen of the camera. It was a great shot, a clear long-range view of a black bear in a clearing.

He nodded a bit reluctantly, still not sure he wanted to talk much. “Nice one.”

“Pretty great, right?” She swung the camera strap back around her neck.

He nodded again. Cody saved him then from trying to think of something else to say by announcing that they’d better get going. Rex saw him subtly move his can of bear spray into one of the pockets on his cargo pants.

There was a tricky section of the trail ahead. Some of the switchbacks were more like scrambles than trails. They ended up sticking close to the others, borne more from their similar slow goings than any want of friendship, at least on Rex’s side. They were a talkative bunch, cracking a constant stream of jokes. Some were obviously a brand of humor only a sibling could understand, but Rex still found himself chuckling under his breath at times. If nothing else, their loud chatter was likely to keep bears away.

Around mid-day they reached the summit of the ridge they’d been trekking. The peaks and valleys of the surrounding mountains were laid out in front of them, snow still clinging to most.

Anakin whistled. “She’s a beaut’, that’s for sure.”

Ahsoka leaned around Rex from the other side to peer at her brother. “There are no buttes here, idiot. Buttes are the tall flat ones.”

Anakin groaned and said, “Not again, Snips.”

“What? I’m just teaching you about rock formations.”

“You know perfectly well what I meant.”

Ahsoka grinned impishly. “Maybe I just want to educate my backwaters brother.”

“She’s just conceited because she got into a fancy grad program and thinks she’s smarter than everybody else,” Anakin told him petulantly.

Ahsoka stuck her tongue out at her brother and stole the water bottle from his backpack.

“Very mature,” Anakin replied with a snort.

“He’s just jealous because he never went to college.”

“Nope, I got my riches the honest way.” He puffed his chest out comically. “The sea is the only teacher I need.”

Ahsoka scoffed. “You’ve seen the ocean like twice. And what riches, I had to help you set up a savings account last year, so I know exactly how many riches you _don’t_ have.”

He shushed her and put her in a light headlock, making her squeal and try to throw him off. “Hush, baby sister. That’s no way to treat your elders. I have wisdom you could only dream of.”

Having seen similar interactions between them for the last couple hours, Rex just watched them act out this bizarre display of affection and good humor. He heard a sigh behind him and turned to see Obi-Wan and Cody also observing the wrestling match.

“I can’t take them anywhere,” Obi-Wan groaned dramatically.

Rex was still reluctant to talk to them much. Hell, some days he had a hard time talking to even Cody. Some days he just wanted to keep his mouth shut and his mind dulled. But he hadn’t had a day like that in a while. The near-constant exercise and fresh air was doing a lot for his state of mind.

But he was tired of Cody getting that look in his eye, the one that said he worried far too much. Cody seemed to like these people so Rex could stick it out for his brother.

“Uh, so you staying at the next campground or just camping on the trail?” There, that was a friendly conversation starter. Nothing personal, not talking about feelings, just some polite trail talk.

Anakin shrugged beside him. “Dunno. We usually just go until we get tired and then look around for a good spot. We’re not really into planning much. Or at least Ahsoka and I aren’t.”

“Ah.” Rex nodded as if he understood.

“And even when we do plan our day out ahead of time, things always seem to mess it up. You know?”

Rex did not know. “Sure.”

“Like one day,” Anakin chuckled to himself, unaware of Rex’s bemused stare. “One day we were eating lunch—oh boy that was a good one—”

“Do _not_ tell him that story!” Rex hadn’t even realized Ahsoka was listening to their conversation. She was taking the middle position in their five-person formation.

“Shut up, Snips,” Anakin waved an annoyed hand at his sister and continued his story. “So one day we stop for lunch, and Snips needs to make a _visit_ to the forest, if you know what I mean.” Anakin waggled his eyebrows at him. “So she goes and we don’t hear from her for a while—like too long. So naturally, Obi-Wan and I are getting a bit worried—”

Ahsoka interrupted him again with a scoff. “You didn’t even notice I was gone. I had to yell at the top of my lungs for you to look up from your sandwich.”

“Stop ruining my story. So anyway, we get there and she’s got her pants around her ankles, hands covering her lady parts, and she tells us—” He cut himself off with the force of his laughter before getting a hold of himself. “She’s got a tick… somewhere she can’t reach it.”

Ahsoka grumbled something that Rex doesn’t fully catch apart from a few colorful swear words.

“You try peeing while squatting in this undergrowth, then talk to me.”

Anakin sighed serenely. “That was a fun day.”

“It was definitely _not_ ,” Ahsoka huffed.

“So no, we don’t stick to plans much,” Anakin tells Rex in conclusion.

“Hey, you guys want to join us for a while? You know, like officially, instead of us just taking turns lapping each other?”

The question from Anakin came out of the blue as he was walking in front of Cody and Rex one afternoon after they’d once again caught up to them. Cody looked to Rex as if to gauge his reaction.

“I dunno, man,” Cody began cautiously.

Rex had seen the flash of _something_ cross his brother’s face at Anakin’s suggestion and knew what he had to do. He was tired of holding Cody back from making connections with other people. Cody deserved to see someone else’s face besides his own sorry mug for a bit.

“Sure,” Rex blurted out. Cody turned to him incredulously, but Rex ignored him.

“Nice!” Anakin raised his fist to Rex for a bump, which he returned after only a second’s hesitation.

“What’s the commotion back there?” Ahsoka called from the head of their line.

Anakin cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “The bro team said yes!”

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan high fived.

“Excellent,” Obi-Wan called back to them. “We’ll have to celebrate tonight.”

“Do you mean—” Ahsoka started.

“A real campfire?” Anakin finished, practically vibrating with excitement.

Obi-Wan smiled at them paternally. “I think the occasion calls for it.”

“You bet your ass it does!” Anakin did a little skip, an impressive feat considering the heavy pack on his back. “Snips, get the rope! We’ve got firewood to wrangle!”

That first night together wasn’t as awkward as Rex feared it would be. They found an established camp site a few yards from the trail and set their tents up in a loose circle around the primitive fire ring. It turned out that Obi-Wan was something of a cook, using spices from a hip pouch to produce a mouthwatering stew. Rex and Cody were used to suffering through MREs, Rex from his days in the military and Cody from being stationed at remote field sites for months on end, so this was fine dining for them.

Cody joined Anakin and Ahsoka in gathering firewood and then starting the blaze. It hadn’t rained in a few days thankfully, so their kindling was dry. Campfires were a luxury in the backcountry.

Rex was unused to the chatter around the fire at dinner, but he could tell that Cody was enjoying it so he made an effort to join in on the conversation every once in a while.

That night as he lay in their tent and tried to ignore Cody’s snoring, Rex thought about it and couldn’t pinpoint anything about this arrangement that was bad per se. It was just different. Usually new people meant discomfort and painful questions, but he hadn’t dealt with either so far. A strange sensation flowed through Rex’s thoughts as he realized that he counted these people as friends now.

Contentment.

* * *

They lost Obi-Wan first.

“Unfortunately, sabbatical will only get you so far,” he’d said when Cody asked why he was jumping off. “Unlike some of my siblings, I work for a living.”

Anakin had put a hand to his chest dramatically. “I’ll have you know, river guiding is a seasonal occupation. And you said we should indulge our little sister on her journey of self-discovery.”

“Yes, Anakin,” Obi-Wan placated with an amused smile. “And indulged her we have, but I’m rather fond of steady paychecks as well.”

“Ha! Just another way the man is keeping you under his thumb.”

Ahsoka had just groaned from her position in their march down the mountain. It seemed this was a common topic of discussion. “Anakin, will you stop with the communist propaganda?

They walked the short distance into town with Obi-Wan to see him off at the train station. He’d take the train back to the north side of the park where they’d stashed their car at the welcome center, then make the long drive back home.

There was a little café next to the station and since it was a few hours until his train arrived, Obi-Wan suggested they have lunch like civilized people. On the patio though, because they could act like they were normal people all they liked but none of them had showered in weeks.

After drinking exactly one beer, Rex was tipsy. His smiles were freer and words came a bit easier.

“So how’d you get the scar, Anakin?” Rex surprised even himself with the personal question.

Ahsoka’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, this is a good story! Can I tell it?”

Anakin’s mouth was full of the giant bite of cheeseburger he’d just taken, but still managed to mumble, “Sure, sure.”

Ahsoka set down her own bottle of beer and settled into her story. “So we were on a river that feeds into the Great Salt Lake, going through some pretty awesome whitecaps. Great time. We almost flipped like twice.” She paused to take a sip. “But we got through and it was fine. So we’re pulling into shore and Anakin hops out to drag the raft up the bank and he just… goes down.” She smacked her hand on the table to illustrate. “He faceplants right in the shallow water.”

At this point Obi-Wan had to set his sandwich down because he was laughing so hard. He tells them through tears, “We thought he died there was so much blood.”

Ahsoka nodded and continued through her own laughter, “He hit his head on a rock. And head cuts apparently bleed like hell, and the water made the blood run even more, so it just looked a lot worse than it was.”

Anakin chuckled as if remembering something other than his own head wound. Rex and Cody exchanged bewildered glances but joined in on the laughter.

“We were a couple hours from the nearest hospital, and we had to square away the raft too, so by the time we got to town the bleeding had stopped.”

“I already had a black eye forming, too,” Anakin added.

“So we figured he was fine.” Ahsoka shrugged. “Didn’t realize until later that he probably still should’ve gotten stitches.”

“But the ladies do love a cool scar.” He tapped his face for dramatic effect.

The table cracked up all over again at that.

They settled the bill and crossed the street to the train station.

Rex was surprised to find that he would miss this stranger-turned-friend. He almost wished he still had a phone so they could exchange numbers.

The three siblings hugged, all merriment gone for the moment as they said goodbye. Rex turned away from the scene. Seeing the affectionate farewell made his throat feel tight.

They redistributed some of their gear, going through all the communal supplies that Obi-Wan bad been carrying and dividing it amongst themselves. Luckily, Cody and Rex had started the hike packing light, so the added load wasn’t too bad split between the four of them. They stopped to refill their water then joined back up with the CDT.

Anakin was next. His on-again, off-again girlfriend left him a letter at the next waystation asking to be on again and that was it.

“Don’t even get me started,” Ahsoka had said with an eyeroll to Cody and Rex in lieu of an explanation.

“You’ll love her, guys,” Anakin told them excitedly. Apparently it was assumed that they would be meeting her. “Padme’s great.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that. She _is_ great. Just don’t mess it up this time, Skyguy, okay?” Ahsoka chided.

“Never, Snips.” Anakin smiled dopily. “I’ve got a good feeling about this time.”

He left the next day. It was a short walk to a bus depot that would take Anakin into the nearest town, the waystation being necessarily close to civilization. They performed the now familiar shuffling of gear, though this was a tighter fit with only the three of them left. In the end they made Anakin take back some cooking instruments and other things they could probably live without.

They arrived at the small station and again Rex felt that odd sense of regret that they were parting.

As they were waiting for his bus and attempting to pack the gear more efficiently into the packs, Anakin pulled Rex aside. Cody and Ashoka were playfully arguing over who had to carry the camp stove as it was the heaviest object they had.

“Rex, can I talk to you for a sec?”

Rex cocked his head. “Sure thing.”

Anakin ushered him out of hearing distance from the other two with a hand on his shoulder. “If it was just me and Ahsoka on this hike, I would never leave her like this. Not that I don’t think she’s capable of finishing it alone, she’s a much better hiker than I am—” Anakin lifted half his mouth in a self-deprecating smile before sobering again. “It’s just, it’s a big world and a big hike. And I know we joke, but she really needs this. And I trust you and Cody. You’re good guys, Rex. So I want you to promise you’ll stick with her and make sure she’s okay.”

Rex was touched that Anakin trusted him like this but not sure that he deserved it. He opened his mouth to say so, but Anakin cut him off.

“Look, I don’t know your past, Rex, but I do know you’re trying. And at the end of the day, that’s all anyone can ask for.” Anakin clapped him on the back again and pulled him into a one-armed hug. “You’ll get there, buddy.”

Rex blinked and returned the hug. Anakin stepped back, still holding him by the shoulder.

“I, uh…” Rex cleared his throat. “I’ll stick with her. I promise.”

Anakin beamed at him. “Thanks, man. It means a lot.”

They walked back, Anakin’s arm still slung over his shoulders, and heard Cody and Ahsoka bartering for carrying duties.

“I’ll do the dishes tonight if you carry the almonds,” Ahsoka was saying to Cody.

“Do you think I’m some kind of fool?” Cody exclaimed. “That’s got to be five pounds of nuts, woman!”

“Three nights of dishes?”

Cody shook his head, standing his ground. “A week.”

Ahsoka paused and seemed to think it over. “You got yourself a deal.”

They shook hands like this was a normal thing to do at a deserted bus station in the middle of Montana.

Ahsoka sidled up to Rex and nudged him with her shoulder. “I actually like doing the dishes,” she told him in a low voice. “I would have agreed to two weeks.”

Rex let out a surprised laugh. “Don’t tell him that. He thinks he won that fight.”

She grinned at him and Rex was momentarily stunned by her brilliant smile. “I know. I’m used to dealing with prideful men.”

“What are you doing after?”

They were stopped at an overlook. Ostensibly to rest and take a water break, but Cody had flashed Rex the agreed upon hand sign that meant he needed to make a particularly _long_ visit to the forest. So Rex and Ahsoka were just lounging on the cliff edge, dangling their legs over the side.

He shrugged. “Get a job, I guess.”

“Where will you live?”

Good question. For the five months before they’d started this hike, Rex had been staying in Cody’s guest room in Jackson. He’d always planned to just go back there with his brother. But something had shifted in him now. He wanted to do more, experience more. He didn’t want to hole himself up in that room and ignore the world again.

“I don’t know.” Rex frowned. He always had a plan. Even if that plan was to do nothing all day, it was a plan. But now he didn’t know what came next. And for some reason that didn’t scare him as much as it would have a couple months ago.

Ahsoka nodded and shifted on the rock so she could face him.

“You could…” she started slowly. “Um, have you been to Salt Lake City before?”

“I don’t think I have actually. Maybe just driving through,” Rex replied, mildly confused at the shift in topic.

“It’s a cool town. I mean, if you don’t mind Mormons and obnoxious skiers.”

He chuckled. “Wyoming has some ski idiots too.”

“Oh right, yeah,” Ahsoka agreed.

“But you’re starting grad school there, right? Salt Lake City?” he asked.

“I am. Biology. I’m hoping to go out on the lake to study the biodiversity. And Obi-Wan and Anakin live there too,” she added as an afterthought. “Or well, Obi-Wan does, Anakin just bounces around between our houses and Padme’s usually. Or whatever body of water he’s on for the season.”

Rex snorted. “Yeah that sounds like him.”

Ahsoka fidgeted again and Rex took a moment to study her. She seemed… nervous for some reason. He felt his face heat up at the shift in the atmosphere.

“Would you consider… maybe coming to Utah? Just for a visit or something?” The words rushed out of her mouth in a jumble that took him a couple seconds to decipher. When he did, he felt relief uncurl in his chest.

“Um, yeah…” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Really?” She looked so damned pleased. Had he caused that?

“Yeah. I don’t know what life is gonna look like for me after this—” He waited for the panic at that statement to set in, but he felt strangely okay. It felt right. “But I know that I’m gonna get back out there. There’s some old bridges I need to mend.” He playfully elbowed her in the side. “And some new bridges I’d like to keep building.”

Ahsoka laughed and shoved him back before settling back with her elbows propped behind her. She sighed as they looked to valley below. “Well I look forward to continue building our bridge.”

They reached the southern boundary of Glacier National Park.

Rex knew it was coming. This was always meant to be the end of their journey, the big finale. But it came with little fanfare. Maybe it was because he was finally feeling like himself after who knows how long being stuck in that gray, dulled place he’s been in. He was finally appreciating the trees and the sky. He could think back on the men and women he’d seen die without hyperventilating.

Ahsoka was the one to suggest they keep going. The trail continued all the way to Mexico after all. What was a few more miles in the long run. Rex agreed almost immediately, shocking everyone in the party but Cody.

“I’m glad, little brother,” he’d said to Rex.

“So you’ll come? We can go right through to Wyoming, right to your front door.” There was a thrill in Rex’s eyes as he spoke.

“No, Rex. That’s all right, but I don’t think I can continue on with you. I’ve got to get home and prepare for the study season.” He had a grant for the fall, looking at burn regrowth in the northern part of the state. There’d be plenty of time, but this wasn’t Cody’s journey anymore.

Rex looked down at his feet, but said, “I understand.”

Cody smiled fondly at him, picturing his brother as the little boy he used to be. A boy who didn’t know war and death and pain.

“You and Ahsoka should go though. I think it’ll be good.” He brought their foreheads together and gripped his little brother by the shoulders. “You’ll do good, Rex.”

Tears gathered in Rex’s eyes. It was an end, one way or another.

“Thank you.”

There was so much to be thankful for. Cody was his rock, the only person who hadn’t felt like an outsider for so long. Rex pressed his forehead harder into Cody’s.

Cody just smiled to himself, happy to see his brother again.

* * *

Rex had given up his tent to Cody when he left. Having two two-man tents just seemed ridiculous at this point, so he and Ahsoka agreed to share from now on. Despite his acceptance of the overall plan, Cody was still a little shocked that Rex was so willing to share such close quarters with someone he hadn’t known for more than a few weeks.

“You sure?” Cody had asked as he packed away their tent on the last morning before they dropped him off at his car. At this point the tent was almost as much of a participant on this hike as they were, for as much time they spent putting it up, sleeping in it, and tearing it back down again.

“Yeah, it’s no problem.” Rex waved off his concern.

Cody had nodded skeptically, a strange look on his face. “If you say so.”

That first night of just the two of them Rex attempted to help Ahsoka set up the tent. After being so used to his own, the differences in her tent seemed alien. He couldn’t make heads or tails of where the poles and stakes were supposed to go so after a while of struggling, he finally gave up and let her finish setting it up.

“This is weird, isn’t it?” Ahsoka asked him as they sat eating their meal that night. “Me without my brothers, you without yours.”

Rex huffed a laugh around his spoonful of beans. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

“It’s good though, right?”

He shot her a puzzled look. “Yeah, ‘course.”

Ahsoka peered at him speculatively. “I trust you, Rex. It’s been a while since I’ve trusted someone.”

“I, uh… thank you,” he stuttered. “I trust you, too, Ahsoka.”

She smiled. “I don’t know if Anakin told you what happened—”

At her look, Rex shook his head once sharply. He didn’t need to know, not if she wasn’t willing to share with him.

“I had… a rough year. Just a lot of things at once. And I couldn’t take it.” She shrugged, smile still in place though it looked like it took some effort. “It’s taken me a while to get where I am now. And even still, sometimes I just have to— to do something, you know? Do something impulsive to remind myself that I still can. That I’m still here, still breathing and fighting.”

Rex took a deep inhale and squared his shoulders. “Yeah, me too.”

Ahsoka put a comforting hand on his arm. They were huddled together next to the camp stove already, but she scooted closer to him on the soft-packed dirt. He smiled at her, understanding that they both needed this journey in more ways than one.

The nights were getting colder. Late summer it may be, but many thousands of feet above sea level they most certainly were. They took to cuddling up in the tent, zipping their sleeping bags together on the worst nights. Modesty and personal space had been left on the side of a mountain weeks ago.

Though still cumbersome to get going, a fire in the evenings was more of a necessity now.

Ahsoka looked up from where she’d been studying the flames and said, “I’ll have to leave soon.” She looked regretful at the fact. “Classes start up in a week and a half, and it’ll take me at least a day or two to get home by bus.”

Rex had been expecting this. He’d noticed her lingering a little longer at overlooks and taking more pictures than before, sealing this experience in her memory.

“Oh,” he said, frowning. He didn’t want her to go, even though it was always going to happen. They’d already said goodbye to the rest of their little group, but this parting seemed bigger.

She reached over and took his hand then lifted his arm around her so she was snuggled into his side. Rex took a moment to marvel at the casual intimacy they shared.

“You should keep going,” she told him, still staring into the fire.

Rex felt himself nodding. He still had something left to find out here and he didn’t feel an urge to end his journey just yet.

A soft smile, then, “Yeah, I think I will.”

Ahsoka leaned her head against his chest more fully and closed her eyes. They stayed like that until Rex felt himself falling asleep and was fairly certain Ahsoka already had. He gently roused her by brushing the hair away from her face and brought them both up to standing.

They set about smothering the dying fire and made sure all their gear was covered, then crawled into the tent.

“Rex?” Ahsoka whispered into the darkness next to him.

He jerked and pulled himself back from the edge of sleep with the sharpness of someone who’s been woken by explosions too many times.

“Sorry, it’s just me.” She quickly reached to soothe him with a hand to his cheek.

Rex calmed his breathing in seconds and turned his head to kiss her palm. It took him a few more seconds to realize that they’d never shared that kind of tenderness before. Sure, they huddled close together at the campfire and in the tent, but he could always tell himself that was for warmth.

Ahsoka didn’t comment, just scratched his bearded cheek when he turned his head back to face her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, because there was something that was bothering her, he could tell.

In the filtered moonlight he saw her face scrunch in a frown. “You’ll be okay, right? On your own?”

Rex thought he knew what she was asking. They hadn’t talked much more about their stories, but she knew he was a vet and that he’d gone through _something_. Cody had asked him a similar question all those months ago when he’d found him at the bottom of a whiskey bottle after the last funeral he attended, and promptly brought him home to Wyoming. His answer back then wasn’t the same as it would be now.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

Her face relaxed and she resumed rubbing his jaw. “Good.”

He gazed at her, this woman who cared about him and trusted him enough to show it. He was tired of not feeling his own emotions and attachments to other people. He searched through his jumbled feelings and felt them solidify around her.

Slowly, so as to make his intentions clear, Rex leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers. He felt her hand tighten on his jaw and then she deepened the kiss. He closed his eyes and savored the sweet taste of her.

Ahsoka inched closer to him and threw one of her legs over his and he gasped as their bodies connected. The warmth of her body radiating through him enveloped him in a cocoon of heat and pleasure.

“This okay?” She was fully astride him now, her loose braid framing her face as she waited for his answer.

He didn’t think he could speak if he tried so instead he settled one hand on her lower back and brought her back down to continue their kiss.

Tent sex is awkward. And anyone who says differently is lying, Rex decided. The ground was not exactly even, and every once in a while he’d feel a rock or branch dig into his back uncomfortably. And despite the shared body heat, the air was still cold. They stayed under the protection of their conjoined sleeping bags, but even still they felt the freezing air.

Ahsoka shucked off her thick leggings but left her sweatshirt on. He pushed his own long johns down to his thighs but couldn’t maneuver around to get them all the way off with her straddled over top of him.

“I don’t—shit, condom…”

“It’s okay,” Ahsoka panted. “IUD.” She brought one his hands under her sweatshirt to her bare breast. He sent a silent prayer to the heavens that she went to bed without a bra that night because he didn’t think they could accomplish taking that off while still inside the sleeping bag.

“You good with that?” she asked him.

“Yup, good.”

She peppered kisses across his face and then rubbed her cheek against his jaw. She seemed to have a thing for his trail beard and he only wished they had the space for him to give her some beard burn in more interesting places.

Rex circled her nipple with his too-cold fingertips and brought his other hand down to her center. He felt the heat and wetness dripping out of her and groaned. He rubbed tight circles around her opening before plunging two fingers in, grinding the heel of his palm against her clit.

Ahsoka whimpered and dropped her face into his neck. He set a steady pace, imagining that it was his length inside her instead of his fingers. She sobbed out his name when he felt her walls clamp down around his fingers and he slowed his movements as she came down. Rex smiled and pressed a kiss to her hair.

She caught her breath and then kissed him fiercely, bracketing her arms around his head. Rex held onto her hips tightly as she sat up as much as the sleeping bags would allow and stroked his cock. She twirled her thumb around the head and gave him one firm pump before guiding him to her center.

Ahsoka gasped as he entered her, and Rex stilled his hips. He smoothed his hands over her from knee to ribs and held her breasts in his palms, tweaking the nipples. He felt her core contract around him so he did it again.

She began to move just as he thought he couldn’t take it anymore. She lifted her pelvis up so that only his tip was braced at her entrance, then he met her halfway by thrusting up. Their range of motion was limited, and it took more than a couple awkward movements to get a useful rhythm going. But once it did, the drag of his length inside her tight heat had his own orgasm building swiftly.

Ahsoka whispered encouragements and endearments in his ear and Rex had never felt lighter. He felt her everywhere, some raw part of him opening up and demanding release.

He shifted a hand from the crease of her hip where he’d been holding her and moved it to where they were joined, pressing his thumb against her clit. The pitch of her keening changed and Rex redoubled his efforts. She came forcefully around him, bringing him along a breath later.

They lay there like that for long moments to regain steadier heartbeats. Hair more than a little mussed, Ahsoka lifted her head from where it had been laying on his shoulder and gave him a sated smile. She kissed him chastely, still grinning.

Rex helped her lift herself off him and she slumped bonelessly to the ground, still safely ensconced in the warmth of the sleeping bag.

He rooted around in one of the tent’s pockets and got out one of their precious few wet wipes. He cleaned them both up as much as possible and then settled back on his small camp pillow. Ahsoka immediately curled around him and rested her head on his chest. He fell asleep with his hand on her back, listening to her steady breathing.

This goodbye was the hardest. Maybe it was because it was the last one. Or, more likely, it was because he was falling in love with Ahsoka. But regardless, Rex was sad. Not that overwhelming sadness that he’d drowned in before, the kind that rips through you to the bone. But a quiet sort of sadness all the same.

“Call me when you’re home?” she asked him as they waited for her bus. She and Cody had already exchanged numbers.

He nodded. “Will do.”

“And you promise you’ll be safe, right? No falling off cliffs to take selfies with wild animals?”

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She squirmed slightly as his whiskers tickled her skin. “I don’t even have a camera to take selfies with, so I think I’ll be fine.”

“Hmm, that’s true.” She pretended to think about it. “I guess you’ll survive in the wilderness then.”

He’d already promised all of this, but it felt good to repeat it. For once, he was looking forward to the next time he’d talk to someone after they parted ways.

She gave him a long, sweet kiss and then she was gone.

Rex watched the bus pull away from the curb and drive down the road. He waited until it was out of sight before he shouldered his pack and set off once again.

There were more mountains than he could count, rivers and valleys that took his breath away. He watched every sunset and woke before daybreak to see the sun’s journey back up to the high heavens.

He passed other hikers on the trail and smiled politely at them. A handful of times he even stopped to chat for a minute. He still didn’t seek other people out, but as the days and weeks went on, he came to appreciate the small beauty of just exchanging words about the weather or the path conditions one way or another with a fellow hiker.

He didn’t end up walking right to Cody’s front door. About the time he crossed the Wyoming border he realized he was done. His feet were sore and his shoulders aching.

He was washing his hands in a campsite restroom when he looked into the mirror and almost didn’t recognize himself. Beyond the shaggy hair and beard there was a spark of life in his eyes. He looked calm. Happy even.

Rex spent one more day walking and found a small lake not far from the path. Most days he barely looked at his map, only needing it if there was an unmarked fork, and he didn’t feel like he needed the name of this lake to know that it was the endpoint of his journey. He sat on the shore and watched the wind whistle through the trees and the waves lap against the pebbly beach.

When he got to a trailhead, he hitched a ride to the nearest bus station and navigated crisscrossing routes south to get to Jackson. He used the Jackson Greyhound station’s one remaining payphone to call his brother and ask for a ride. Cody almost dropped his phone in shock but told him he’d be there in twenty minutes. When he got there, Cody pulled him into a hug that knocked the breath out of his lungs.

“I missed you, Cody,” Rex told him when he could breathe again.

Cody laughed a little. “I missed you, too.” He pulled out of the embrace to take a good look at him. “But let’s get you a shower and a haircut, yeah?”

Rex laughed, long and loud, and Cody grinned at him as they loaded his pack into his car.

Cody had a couple weeks before he needed to head out for a field assignment, so they made the most of it. They cooked together and ran errands to stores. Rex still felt a little weird being indoors and in regular society, but not unpleasantly so. Cody even accompanied him to a cell phone store to buy a cheap flip phone to ease himself back into technology. They reminisced about the hike and he told Cody all about his journey home.

“So you and Ahsoka, huh?”

Rex groaned, regretting his decision to tell Cody about the shift in their relationship. He’d had to explain why he needed to borrow Cody’s phone right after he got cleaned up that first day back and Cody had been teasing him about it ever since.

“You know,” Cody began casually. “I have to take a Forest Service car for this trip. You could borrow mine while I’m gone.”

Rex worked to keep his voice equally casual as he replied, “Yeah, that’d be good.”

He got her address from her brothers. He’d wanted to make sure they thought his plan was okay, too. And that she’d actually be home. Obi-Wan assured him that she was in labs most days, but home by six at the latest.

Rex pulled up to the curb in front of a small bungalow, double checking that it was the right number, and stepped out of the car. He noticed the wild array of flowers growing in the front yard and smiled.

He rung the doorbell and tried to squash down the sudden nerves he felt.

He heard footsteps nearing the door on the other side and then she opened it. Rex forgot how to breathe for a second as he took the sight of her.

Ahsoka gasped and then promptly flung herself into his arms. He held onto her waist and buried his nose in her hair.

“You’re here?” she asked him incredulously.

“Yeah, I’m here.”


End file.
